


A Stroke of Luck

by randompersonH2O



Category: The Walking Dead RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:02:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9116176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randompersonH2O/pseuds/randompersonH2O
Summary: Emma had never been a very lucky woman. Her father looked down on her for her career choice, which she was barely making any headway with despite her numerous auditions. She was about ready to give up until her family managed to send her to the season five premiere of The Walking Dead. Will this finally give her the boost she needs to find her lucky break, or will she find something else that she never expected to find?





	

Emma took a deep breath as she sat in the back of the limo, smoothing the skirt of her short, form fitting dress for about the fiftieth time since sitting down on the stiff leather seats. The driver had offered her champagne three times now, as if it was going to calm her nerves. However, she had refused, for she knew that it would do nothing but make meeting her idols more embarrassing. She had never, ever expected to be as lucky as she had been to get this opportunity. It should have been some other obsessed fan sitting where she was, but apparently her family's persuasion had worked even on the producers of The Walking Dead, and earned her the chance to meet the actors and actresses that she had looked up to since she was just starting to make an attempt at building her pathetic acting career.

She had almost immediately become what people liked to call a starving artist, taking a job waiting tables at a local restaurant as she searched for the opportunity to jump start her career as an actress. Her father thought she was an idiot for trying, telling Emma every time that he saw her that she would be waiting tables for the rest of her life. Unless she gave up her stupid dream and went back to school for a "real" degree, that is. Despite his taunts, she kept trying, and the rest of her family had urged her on through all of the failures. That, and she had continued to watch other actors and actresses, taking in how they acted in certain scenes and trying to learn for her auditions. Unfortunately, the pretty blondes that were as thin as twigs always seemed to win out over what her drama teachers had called talent back when she was in high school.

Emma wasn't a gorgeous woman, and she knew it. Still, she was trying, and that was what had made her family decide to enter her in the contest to go to the season 5 premiere of her favorite show. She'd told them that she wasn't going to try because there were other fans out there that were certain to get it, and she would just be disappointed. She hadn't expected to win on the generosity of her family then, and she still couldn't believe that it had happened. Now, she was sitting there in a very, very short dress that someone had told her looked perfect on her, and more makeup than she had ever worn in her life. 

The limo was still creeping forward behind others, and she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do. Her personal stylist, a service provided to make sure she blended in with all of the talent at this red carpet event, just told her to smile for the cameras whenever they asked for pictures, and to try not to speak to the actors like they were divine beings. That part Emma didn't have a problem with; she knew that they hated being treated as if they weren't people. The only thing that she had to worry about was becoming too overwhelmed to speak to them. She had seen all of them in a couple movies and TV shows besides The Walking Dead, and she was more worried about the thought of embarrassing herself in front of them by telling them about her failed career so far... and asking for advice.

"Ma'am," the driver called out, interrupting her thoughts. She flinched slightly as she looked up, her barely shaking hands gripping the slick leather while she waited for a response. The windows were heavily tinted so that she couldn't even see out of them, so Emma had no idea where they were.

"This is where you get out," he continued, motioning to the door as someone opened it up for her.

"Thank you," Emma said quickly, taking a deep breath to push all of her nerves away as she stepped out of the vehicle to greet the red carpet she would have to walk down in order to get to the premiere. In all honesty, it was far more chaotic than she had ever dreamed of. The actors, actresses, and other creators of the show were stretched up and down the short carpeted space in front of the entrance, most of them stopped for photos or interviews with magazines and TV stations that normally covered events like this. She doubted that they would care so much about her, though. They all knew why she was there, and most fans would end up envying her as they got quick shots of her walking past the cameras before another actor was interviewed.

Emma managed to sneak down the carpet with no more commotion than a few quick photos from random photographers, which allowed her to slip into the theater virtually unnoticed. She was somewhat glad, though, for she would rather not have to tell everyone who didn't know her that she was just a fan who had gotten there thanks to a bit of luck.

She smiled as she looked around the room, taking in the usually bland walls that were now covered by a few massive Walking Dead posters. They had obviously decorated the place for the occasion, and Emma was glad that they had made the effort. She hadn't expected anything less.

"Who are you?" a voice asked suddenly, pulling her down from cloud nine and back to the theater that she was standing in. A large man with a black tee shirt printed with the word security was towering over her, reminding her of just how short she was as he glared down at her. She could tell by the expression on his thin face that he had assumed that she wasn't supposed to be there, but he was about to be proven wrong.

"Oh, I'm the fan who won the contest. Emma Lee Jacobs," she replied, flashing the man a nervous smile as she held out her hand for him to shake. She didn't expect him to recognize the name at all, but she supposed that there was a chance that they'd received a list of who was supposed to be there and who wasn't. Either way, she did have the email they'd sent her with the event details if he needed further proof.

"Oh yeah, I saw your name on the list, My apologies ma'am, but I thought everyone would still be outside taking pictures for another ten minutes or so," the man said, his massive hand taking a hold of hers and giving it a firm shake. Looking closer at him, she could see that the guard had grown significantly redder, though she had no idea why. Was it really that embarrassing for him to have asked her if she was supposed to be there? He was human, after all, and the last thing she expected while she was there was to be treated like a star. 

"You're welcome to have a seat and wait for everyone, though, if you'd like."

"Thank you," Emma answered simply, nodding to the man as a sort of farewell as she walked down the rows of seats and finally settling on sitting by the door in case she was supposed to talk to anyone else before they got started. She knew there were a lot of cast and crew members that would come, but she didn't know that there were enough that they needed to rent out this big of a theater. Then again, she wasn't quite sure how many people were involved in creating the episodes that had enthralled her since she was a college student and had been introduced to the show by one of her friends. However, she didn't have to wait too long before people were flooding into the theater, their voices filling the room as she watched them slip inside. She recognized a few of the faces, like Scott Gimple and Greg Nicotero, but there was no sign of any of the main actors as crew members filled some of the seats. She stood, though, as a few familiar voices drifted to her ears from behind the doors.

"Has anyone seen the fan that was supposed to come? I called her driver, and he said he dropped her off ten minutes ago," Robert asked the actors, scanning the crowd of cast and crew around him as they headed towards the theater. He'd invited plenty of fans to premieres of his show before, and not one of them had managed to disappear as this one had. Usually they were all over the actors and actresses, interrupting their interviews and photos just for a chance to say hello. He'd been able to tell that the woman was different as soon as he'd seen that her family had made her entry video for her, but it seemed that she was even more bizarre than he'd thought.

"Her family said that she was an actress, didn't they? Maybe she figured that we would want to take care of our red carpet stuff without being interrupted," Lauren guessed, giving a light shrug as everyone looked at her as though she'd spoken of something impossible. It wasn't uncommon for fans to be polite, though most of the ones that ended up there usually had no qualms about jumping in on a picture or two.

"She's been trying to be an actress, but hasn't had much luck according to her family," Robert replied, holding open the door for the rest of the actors and actresses as they flooded into the auditorium. They would have to get started soon, so he was hoping to find their missing fan before then.

"Which is exactly why she'd be polite. No need for her to give a bad impression by photo bombing us," Norman replied, straightening the black tie he was wearing as he searched the theater for the woman that was supposed to meet them minutes before. He didn't see anything abnormal at first, but he soon spotted a woman who had been sitting nearer to the front of the theater stand up and start making her way towards them.

Emma smiled as she approached the group of actors, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself as she got closer. She was a wreck inside, her stomach doing flips at the idea of actually speaking to some of these amazing people, but her practice in acting was helping her to keep the illusion that she was the calmest - and hopefully happiest - person in the world instead of a ball of nerves.

"Ah, there's our fan!" Robert exclaimed, turning everyone's attention on Emma as she stood in front of the group. She could pick out all of the actors and actresses almost immediately, but she let them all introduce themselves to her just the same. She wasn't surprised at how friendly everyone was towards her, for it had to be a common thing with the millions of fans that they met all the time.

"It's great to finally meet all of you. This show's been amazing to watch, and a big inspiration," she said, putting her best smile on in order to hide the bundle of nerves that she was containing. She didn't want to slip up and say something weird in front of the people that she had wanted to be like for the longest time, but hopefully her acting skills would come in handy and help keep her from looking exactly like she felt: like she wanted to pass out.

"I'm glad you like the show so much, but we should probably take a seat," Robert said, motioning towards the rows of seats in the front of the theater. All of them were reserved for one person or another, so Emma wasn't quite sure whether or not she was including in the group that the executive producer was leading. However, that question was answered as soon as Emily Kinney grabbed her hand and pulled her along after them.

"I think they're waiting on us."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to leave comments and kudos if you did!


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